Anyone still there?

I know, I know, I've been awful at keeping this blog running. I hope to make a better effort next school year.

For all of you still interested, life is going very well here in Abu Dhabi! The school year is winding down and I'm getting ready for, what should be, an awesome summer. The plan is to travel to Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur and Langkawi) for 10 days, London for 7 days, then home for about 5 weeks.

As my first official year of teaching comes to an end I am feeling very grateful. I am happy that I made the bold and brave choice to abandon all the familiarities of my Canadian upbringing and venture out into the world. I have loved immersing my self in a new culture and the sense of freedom that comes from being surrounded by adventurous expats. I recognize that very few people in this world are given the opportunities that I have been awarded, and I am feeling very blessed.

In other news, as most of you know, there is a new man in the picture. As this is such a public forum all I'll say is... he is happiness.

This is my last, unofficial, day with my students. Surprisingly, I am feeling very sad. I started off the year frustrated by their attitudes, their sense of privilege, and their understanding of the world. As the days passed, though, I started to realize that they were going to be my biggest teachers in this overseas adventure- if I opened myself to their lessons. They have proven to be some of the most caring, patriotic, and moral people I have ever met. I am excited to watch them grow into sensible and responsible men. Spending all my school hours with 13 year old boys has proven to be quite the challenge, but I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Living in a Muslim country is starting to grow on me too. I can say with great confidence that there is a gross misunderstanding of many Islamic cultural traditions. I have found the culture to be quite peaceful and respectful. As I watch the decline of American unity and morality from afar, I am convinced that they are doing a lot more things right over here.

Anyway.. I need to get with my marking. I hope that I haven't lost all of my 'fans' and I apologize for my absence.

Update soon!

Hello everyone!

I've been up to a lot of exciting things and will update soon. I'm waiting for pictures from some friends.

Is anyone even reading this anymore? If not, I'll just shut down and go back to emailing :)

Crazy, but true!

I think I have mentioned before how the license plate system works in the UAE. It's basically a representation of your status - the lower your plate number, the higher your status.

They had an auction for plate #1 this past weekend. Guess how much it went for?? 15.5 MILLION dollars!! That's dollars, not dirhams. Can you believe it?? What's even better is that a grade 8 student's family at my school were the purchasers!

In other news, the 'cold' is gone. We got down to a chilly 10 degrees, brrrr.

I'm heading on a weekend getaway next weekend. It's a smaller town in UAE called Al Ain. The hotel is tucked in the desert mountains. Should be gorgeous!

Santa Claus is coming to town...

We have parent teacher conferences (again) tomorrow and I must say that I've been having a bit of fun with it. You know how at home you can control little children, for at least the entire month of December, with the threat 'Santa Claus is watching you'? Turns out 'I'm going to have a lot to say to your parents at the conference' has the same effect :) My usually rowdy boys have been surprisingly calm and well behaved- and I have enjoyed the stress free days.

In other news, my wallet was stolen. We were out the other night and two of us from the group had our stuff pinched. I'm an idiot and had all of my Canadian ID in it. I had no money, and they didn't use my cards before I cancelled them - it's just the hassle of replacing everything. I'm trying to stay positive- this is no tragedy. Life is great otherwise.. and I still have my passport!!

There's a storm blowing up a buppa..

For all of the time I've been here, the most extreme weather I've come across is a light rain shower. So, you can imagine my surprise when we were hit with a gigantic sand storm this weekend! For all of you who have never experienced a sand storm (and I imagine most of you haven't), it's like the early stages of a tornado, but much dirtier.

Trees were knocked down all along the waterfront and lampposts were uprooted. This country was not built to endure any sort of weather - as we saw with the flooding caused by 2 days of rain! The worst part is that everything is now covered in dirt.

In other news, I'm still looking for a trip for April. I will be going to Bahrain for the last part of the holiday. I'm going to spend 2 days at the Formula 1 race there. That leaves me 5 or 6 days to visit somewhere else.

We got our calendar for next year. My winter break runs from December 2- January 3. That's a whole month off! Yippeeee!

Once in a lifetime...

Well folks, I can say, without a doubt, that this past weekend has been one of the most amazing that I'll ever have.


It started out with a small dinner with some friends I've recently made. We went to a very cool jazz bar, had some nice wine, good food, easy conversation. From there we met up with some other people for a birthday celebration. This was no ordinary party, though. For starters, the event was held at the Emirates Palace. For those of you who don't know what the Emirates Palace is.. please go look it up. It is, by far, the most posh place in Abu Dhabi - if not all of the Middle East. The palace is technically a hotel, charging thousands of dollars per night, but also hosts concerts and conferences. If you've seen the movie The Kingdom, it is the king of Saudi's home (in the film). Anyway, to sum it up, it's beyond luxurious and waaaaay out of my price range.


So, that's where the party was, at the new (exclusive) night club in the Emirates Palace. You can't get in the club unless you are a member - and memberships run for about $2000 a year. So, it was a big deal. Anyway.... I get in the club and find out that not only was I given free cover but the party is serving free alcohol. A drink at the club would normally be about $20, so this is also a huge deal. So here I am in the most exclusive night club in the country, drinking for free, when all of the sudden the stakes got much higher. As we were partying the night away, Prince Andrew (yes, THE prince Andrew) wandered over to join us. He was in town for a golf tournament and to attend some energy conference. We were carrying away in meaningless chit chat - I had no idea it was even him until someone addressed him. He brought along his 19 year old daughter (Beatrice) as well. I talked with her for a bit and was impressed at how mature and sophisticated she was.

So there you have it.. my once in a lifetime evening hobnobbing with British Royalty. Have I convinced you all to move over here yet?

Shenanigans!

Today is a public holiday in Dubai. Would you like to know why? Because George W. is in town.

Whoever designed the city did it in a way that has structured the entire operation around two or three major roads. Tradition is to close down any road that a Sheik (or in this case an American President) travels on. Since it is impossible to get to the palace without driving on all of these major roads, the entire city must shut down if they are on the move. How ridiculous.

Weather in the UAE

I've been blessed to move to a country where the weather is never bad. I never have to worry about it raining, snowing, being windy.. nothing.

But it still made me laugh when one of my boys came in this morning, looking horribly confused, and asked me...

"Miss, why is it raining outside?"

I don't know how to answer that question.

Back in Town!

I must start by apologizing for the long delay in updating this site, things were pretty busy before the holiday!

As most of you know, I traveled back to Tanzania for my Christmas break. I went with an organization called Tanzania Volunteer Experience, and would highly recommend it to anyone who is looking to do a little good in the world. I stayed in Arusha, a city I had never been before. I have always felt like I wanted to live in Tanzania, but never found a place that I could picture myself actually thriving in. Arusha changed all that! It is a beautiful city, located at the base of Kilimanjaro and Mt. Meru. The people are friendly, there is lots to do, and teaching jobs are available!

I worked at two different locations- a youth centre called Children for Children's Future (ccf) and Samaritan Village Orphanage. CCF is a centre that homes and educates street children. At present they are at capacity and are sponsoring 45 kids. All of the boys are orphans and were rescued off the streets of Arusha. The man running the operation works hard to find money to send the boys to school. I tutored them in Biology and English to prepare them for entering school in January- many of them are behind where they should be in their education. Samaritan Village is an orphanage that homes about 25 young children. Since the kids are so little they don't offer much more than a warm place to sleep, food in the belly, and clothes to wear. I didn't spend much time here, mostly because I didn't feel overly useful. I did fall in love with one of the babies, though. If I was in a position to take on a child, he would have definitely come home with me!

I am back in Abu Dhabi now and settling into my old routine. It will be another 3 months before we get another holiday- you know you're a spoiled teacher when 3 months seems like a reaaaally long time without vacation! I am not sure where I am going to go, but it's exciting to know that I have no limitations. Any suggestions?


This is me with the baby I wanted!

With one of my older students at CCF

Two of my younger students at CCF

CCF.. laundry day!

My buddies Zully and Petro!